Silva was back in Amador County Court Wednesday facing three misdemeanor charges, including providing alcohol to minors. He is also facing a felony charge for recording confidential audio of minors during a strip poker game on his cellphone.

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Silva said he will fight the charges.

“I have nothing to hide, and I think it’s a bunch of political mumbo jumbo,” Silva said.

The incidents for which Silva is being charged happened between Aug. 5 and Aug. 9, 2015, at the Stockton Silver Lake Camp, according to the Amador County District Attorney's Office.

The charges stem from images and recordings found on his cellphone. Homeland Security investigators seized his cellphone and laptop in October 2015, when he was briefly detained at San Francisco International Airport after arriving from a mayors' conference in China.

His attorneys said they are filing a motion to dismiss the case because Silva’s conduct was not criminal. The attorneys claim the charges are based on false evidence.

The attorneys are also filing a motion for, what they call, “outrageous governmental misconduct.”

“When you knew about this case for a year, and you allowed them to start a summer camp and you thought he was dangerous to people is outrageous governmental misconduct,” Attorney Allen Sawyer said. “(The prosecutors’) goal was to humiliate and embarrass the mayor, and they did that while he was at a camp -- where children were present to watch him be arrested.”

“Do they want to silence me, muzzle me, bully me? Sure, I've had my salary reduced, had my car towed from City Hall and I've seen everything,” Silva said. “So, this is two months before election, and of course it's politically motivated.”

But, the Amador County District Attorney’s Office said the charges have nothing to do with politics.

“If we don't believe we can file a case beyond a reasonable doubt, we are obligated not to file,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Robert Trudgen said.

Judge Leslie Nichols will hear the motions on Oct. 18.

Meanwhile, Silva said he will continue his work as mayor.

“I’m the same person now I have been all my life, helping residents of Stockton,” Silva said. “That’s who I work for.”?